Domestic Violence and the Rights of Domestic Violence Victims

What is Domestic Violence?

Domestic Violence is abuse by your spouse, a person who regularly resides or who formerly resided in your household, someone you are having or had a relationship with, a person you had a child with, or your brother/sister, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, parent-in-law, or daughter/son-in-law.

Your Rights as a Victim of Domestic Violence

1. You have the right to tell your employer that you are the victim of domestic violence. Your employer has to keep this information confidential, unless it has to be disclosed by federal or state law or to protect you in the workplace. The employer has to let you know before disclosing this information.

2. If you tell your employer that you are the victim of domestic violence, you have the right to request and receive reasonable accommodations while at work. Your employer has to discuss this with you promptly and in good faith. Reasonable accommodations could include a transfer, a reassignment, a modified work schedule, a different work telephone number, a different work station, new locks, help documenting any domestic violence that occurs at work, creating safety procedures, changing work requirements, or making a referral to a victim assistance organization.

3. You have the right to take time off to go to the police or the courts for you or your children’s protection from domestic violence, or to go to a licensed medical professional, a licensed health care provider, or a counselor for you or your children’s treatment for domestic violence related trauma. You have to let your employer know in advance that you will be taking the time off, unless it is not feasible. If it is not feasible to let your employer know that you will be taking time off, you have to provide a document within a reasonable time afterward showing that you needed to take the time off. That document can be a domestic violence related police report or court order, a document from a prosecuting attorney about being in court, a document from a licensed medical professional, a victim advocate, a licensed health care provider, or counselor showing that you were undergoing treatment for domestic violence related trauma, or a written statement signed by you, or an individual acting on your behalf, certifying that the absence is for an authorized purpose.

4. If your employer has 25 or more employees, you can take time off for medical treatment of injuries caused by domestic violence, to receive services from a domestic violence shelter or program, to receive psychological counseling, or to participate in safety planning or other actions as a result of domestic violence. You have to let your employer know in advance that you will be taking the time off, unless it is not feasible. If it is not feasible to let your employer know that you will be taking time off, you have to provide a document within a reasonable time afterward showing that you needed to take the time off. Again, that document can be a domestic violence related police report or court document, a document from a prosecuting attorney about being in court, a document from a licensed medical professional, a victim advocate, a licensed health care provider, or a counselor showing that you were undergoing treatment for domestic violence related trauma, or a written statement signed by you, or an individual acting on your behalf, certifying that the absence is for an authorized purpose. Generally, you can use any available vacation, personal leave, accrued paid sick leave, or compensatory time off. Even if you do not have paid leave, though, you still have the right to take the time off.  Up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave may also be available under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act and California Family Rights Act for serious health conditions.

5. If you believe your employer has taken action against you (such as termination, suspension, demotion, reduction in pay or hours, change of schedule, transfer, or discipline) because you exercised any of these rights, or because the employer knows that you are a victim of domestic violence (even though you did not tell the employer), you can bring a retaliation claim against your employer.

December 2020